Battleship New Jersey is welcomed back to Camden after dry dock repairs

A loud boom sounded as the USS New Jersey fired one of its smaller guns while it cruised up the Delaware River on Thursday. On shore, a large gathering of veterans, history buffs and locals cheered as the ship returned to its home pier in Camden, N.J., after 12 weeks of repairs in dry dock. 

The Home Port Alliance for the USS New Jersey, which oversees the museum within the ship, held a homecoming that included appearances by Philadelphia sports mascots and live music performed by the B Street Band. 

The USS New Jersey sailed from Camden on March 22 and, after a brief stay at the Paulsboro Marine Terminal, set course for the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. There, the ship received long overdue maintenance. It had not been put in dry dock in 32 years. 

“Once you take a ship out of water, you don’t know what you are going to get,” Lisa Conte, the chairwoman of the board of trustees of Battleship New Jersey, said. 

During the ship’s stay in dry dock, the hull was cleaned and repaired, 132 through hull openings were repaired and more than 1,300 anodes were replaced, according to Battleship New Jersey.

While these repairs were planned, a layer of sealant was found on the hull that was not in the U.S. Navy’s record from its last dry dock in 1991, according to Conte. 

“We were very fortunate that that was the only big surprise,” Conte said. 

Most-decorated battleship

The USS New Jersey was commissioned on May 23, 1943, and went on to spend 21 nonconsecutive years in active duty during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War and the Gulf War. 

The Iowa-class ship is the most decorated battleship and the second-most decorated ship in American history, according to Battleship New Jersey.

The ship was decommissioned in 2000 and opened as a museum in Camden a year later.

Read more: Beneath the belly of the Battleship New Jersey

“She was built by the men and the women of this region,” Conte said. “And for her to be here on this river she was born…I think it’s so special.”

The repairs were paid in part through a $5 million grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission with support from members of New Jersey’s 5th Legislative District, Conte said. Another $3.25 million was loaned by the Camden County Improvement Authority. 

While the museum itself was closed during repairs, visitors could pay $225 for a tour of the ship in dry dock in Philadelphia.

The high price of the tour was partly set in order to keep employees at the museum on staff while it was closed, Conte said. 

“I don’t know if people realize that the money we took in during dry docking helped go towards the dry docking, but also towards our staff,” she explained. “We didn’t have to lay anybody off.” 

As the USS New Jersey made its final approach to the Camden waterfront, members of the Battleship New Jersey crew fired off one more shot from one of the ship’s side guns.

The crowd of onlookers cheered as confetti flew and the B Street Band played a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA.”

“A lot of people served” on the ship, said David Pearl, a U.S. Air Force veteran who attended the event on Thursday. “It’s absolutely living history.” 

Battleship New Jersey plans to resume museum tours on July 3.

“The battleship is a big part of the City of Camden and our community,” Victor Carstarphen, the mayor of Camden, said. “The battleship will continue to flourish, empower and impact not only our city, but our region, state, and the United States of America.”